Two More Photos

Hello from Aru!

A zi mi chi! Edyo ngoni ya?

I've started Logbara Ti and Lingala lessons with Papa Jerome, so I thought I'd try out a little bit of Logbara Ti on you! My students break out in laughter whenever I try this with them. I'm not sure if the laughter comes from delight in a shared language, or amusement at my poor pronunciation. In any case, I am enjoying the attempt.

Logbara Ti is the language of the local Logbara tribe. Lingala is more widely spoken as one of the four national languages of Congo. Daily Mass and Sunday Mass are usually in Lingala, so I've had more exposure to Lingala and I've begun to get a feel for the flow of the language. Logbara is still quite foreign. I'll keep practicing. My French, also, needs work, but I am usually able to communicate effectively eventually, although not always correctly.

I hope you are all well. You remain in my thoughts and prayers.

Much of my time is spent developing curriculum, preparing lessons, grading papers and teaching at the girls' high school. I have some delightful students. On Saturday when I entered the classroom, my fifth form class greeted me with a welcome song in English accompanied by dancing and drumming. Today they adorned my desk with an embroidered cloth with crocheted fringe. These moments help balance out the frustrations that come with teaching and living in a sea of unfamiliarity

I have begun preparing Christmas pageants with my fifth and sixth form classes. Fifth form will enact the infancy narrative from St. Luke's Gospel and sixth form will follow the story line from Matthew's Gospel. Both classes will sing Christmas carols.

I am also beginning to prepare a Christmas program with the pre-school children. They will sing "Good Morning", "If You're Happy and You Know It", "Angels We Have Heard on High" and "Silent Night", if we can manage to have them ready by December. They are as cute as they are energetic.

I also have become an unofficial secretary, librarian and photographer. I use my laptop everyday. These high tech devices seem incongruent with our wood-burning stove, petal-powered sewing machine and charcoal-heated irons. We are still without internet at the convent, but I'm grateful that at least I can connect at the computer center.

The construction of the volunteer house is progressing well. Two Italian volunteers should arrive at the beginning of December and we hope to move into the house soon after that. I am looking forward to helping paint and furnish the house, and to starting the lay community there.

We also have begun making arrangements for the library, and the organization of books. I will keep you updated on the progress with these plans.

I am grateful for the many blessings God has given me in these first two months in Aru: a welcoming community, kind local people, energetic students, great natural beauty, a culture filled with music and color, exposure to many languages and many opportunities to learn. In the midst of the ups and downs, I feel I'm in a good place to grow and serve.

Thank you for your prayers and concern.

Peace,

Tricia

Phone Info Again

A zi mi chi!

I hope that you are well. I am fine. Next week I will post a proper post. For now I just wanted to let you know that the number might have 011 243 as a prefix or 00243. It's hard to tell.

Love and prayers,

Tricia

New Phone Information

The Pre-school field trip to the mission

Hello Everybody!

I am learning a lot and enjoying life in Congo. I hope that you are well.

I just wanted to correct the phone information that I gave in a previous blog. From the States, my number should be: 00243 81 7477103 Text messages usually don't go through because VodaCom the carrier here does not have SMS connections with many carriers in the States. I have tried sending several messages and none of them have gone through. I have a voice mailbox now, and I also leave my phone on most of the time since it doesn't take much battery power when its sleeping. If you would like to call, 9:30 or 10 p.m. Congo time (1:30 to 2:00 p.m. Colorado time) is the best time to catch me.

There is no fax service in Aru. There is still no internet connection at the convent, but I can get e-mails at the computer center. I go about once a week.

Lots of love,

Tricia